[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: what do you say? tuesday morning july 2. great to see you today. welcome to the "full court press" right here on current tv. your morning town hall of the day where we bring you up to date on everything that's happening as you wake up and start the day. we'll tell you what's going on. not only that, we'll give you a chance to comment on what's going on. you know you're ready to sound off. here's your chance to do so by giving us a call on the phone at 1-866-55-press.

by joining us on twitter at bpshow. becoming our friend on facebook and speaking out on the issues of the day at facebook.com/billpressshow. president obama and the first family wind up their trip to africa today finishing a whole round of events in tanzania. then they'll hop on air force i and be back at the white house tonight about 10:30 tonight sleeping in their own beds in the white house. meanwhile, chaos in egypt. protestors are -- who elected president morsi just one year ago, now say they're unhappy with him. they want him out and the military yesterday gave morsi 48 hours to satisfy the protestor's demands or they say your ass is out of there and we'll put one of our generals in charge. this is what democracy looks like in egypt. student loan rates doubled yesterday but republicans say

they don't care because all students vote for democrats anyway. that's just part of what we'll be talking about right here coming up on current tv. compelling true stories. >> jack, how old are you? >> nine. >> this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines, way inside. (vo) from the underworld, to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current. we have a big big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision.

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if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned great leadership so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things

happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. >> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama says hey, they spy on us, so why don't we spy on them? we all spy on each other. good morning everybody. what do you say? here we go. on another wild ride of the "full court press" this tuesday morning. tuesday, july 2nd. hello, hello hello. great to see you. and good to have you with us as

we take our little hopscotch across the big news stories of the day today. let you know what's going on here in our nation's capital. pretty quiet here with the house and senate out of town and the president out of town particularly. we're here. we're on top of what's going on. we'll tell you what's going on in our nation's capital around the country around the globe and open up the phones, open up the web sites open up the social media so you can give us your comments on the phone at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow and on facebook facebook.com/billpressshow. we are moving into the 4th of july holiday here. one day closer. tuesday, july 2 with the team in place. peter ogborn and dan henning. >> hey, hey, hey. >> good morning. >> bill: alicia cruz on the phones and cyprian bowlding on the video cam. >> hey, all right. ladies love cyprian. he's back on camera today.

looks like he even took a shower today. he looks nice. dressed up. >> bill: we got the man. -- we got demands. where's cyprian? good to see you guys. happy day for the washington, d.c. area because bryce harper, outfielder for the nationals has been out on disability. lot of angst here in washington d.c. after missing 31 games. it is a wonder he remembered how to do it. his first time up at bat with the nats last night against milwaukee brewers. at the bottom of the pile. any rate, bryce harper proves he's still got his stuff. >> high in the air. he clips center field. this one way back to the warning track. he can't get it.

it's gone! good-bye! a home run for harper. in his first at-bat back off the disabled list. >> bill: solo home run last night. but what a way to say i'm back, huh? nothing like it. >> ended up winning 10-5. jayson werth had five rbis. >> let's not forget that that was against one of the worst teams in baseball and the nationals are only two games over .500. >> yes but only five games behind the first place braves. >> i'm just saying as long as they keep -- look, if you score ten runs at the beginning of july great. as long as they can score ten runs in a few more months, we'll be all right. >> bill: i said the secret is they have to keep winning games. very simple. >> excellent reasoning bill. >> bill: carol has to stay away from the stadium. >> keep your wife away from the stadium. i'm going tonight.

>> bill: every time she goes. we have a great line-up today. igor volsky, our good buddy from think progress will be along in about 20 minutes here. frank rich, best columnist in the country now with "new york" magazine will be joining us as well plus reporters from politico and "national journal" and great line-up for you. but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday, the los angeles lakers really want dwight howard to say with them. the team enlisted their number one celebrity fan to try to keep the free agent in the city of angels. espn reports jack nicholson was asked to call dwight howard yesterday. he did. he talked to him about staying with the lakers. no word on that detail of the chat but the team is hoping for the best. >> bill: nicholson is the

biggest -- i don't think any team has a fan like jack nicholson. for years and years and years. >> lakers has jack nicholson. >> bill: i think he's been at it longer. >> paul ryan may be against gay marriage but might be okay with loving fish. he got buzz for a photo of himself he tweeted out of him kissing a fish on the lips. his caption was "politicians don't always kiss babies." the tweet spawned a lot of jokes on social media yesterday. >> bill: oh, man, there is an endless possibility of jokes there, right? shall we? all right. >> speaking of jokes, paula deen has lost a lot. her cookbook, her sponsors, her tv show. one company is ready to take her on.

puremature.com offering her an endorsement deal. according to tmz worth six figures. it is a porn site featuring older women. the company says full figured or thin arthritic or diabetic, paula embodies their perspect spokesperson and they would love to have her. >> bill: you know, it is up to her. her choice. i respect her whatever decision she makes but when i think of porn, i don't think of paula deen. >> no. >> bill: anybody here? >> no. although, i'll tell you this. i would probably watch it just to see. >> bill: are you kidding? i would watch it. i just -- >> i saw something -- i saw a report that says she's lost as much as $12.5 million. she might actually start to think about doing porn for six figures. >> gotta pay for the butter. >> you know butter.

>> bill: there would be butter in it. oh, no no, stop. >> six figure deal. >> bill: yes indeed. let's get on to more serious issue here. get away from the porn. little different kind of controversy which is what's the latest with edward snowden? all right. this guy every day it seems he gets in more and more -- in a tighter and tighter box perhaps is the way to put it. the best guess now is he might be stuck at the moscow airport for the rest of his life. in the transit zone. he'll have to think about -- he'll never return. the guy on the boston subway, on the mta. edward snowden will never return from the transit zone at the moscow airport. he put out a statement yesterday really self-serving statement

about how i'm still the most honest guy on the planet and all i want is to serve humanity, blah, blah blah, blah, blah. he requested asylum yesterday. big announcement in russia. and then this morning we find out he has rescinded his request for asylum in russia. maybe because vladimir putin said we might consider that but first you would have to stop leaking any secrets that would hurt our friends in the united states. "huffington post" reports this morning that snowden has sought asylum in as many as 19 countries or had yesterday including russia. so the fate of edward snowden remains unknown. and you know, look, i still say edward snowden did the right thing by telling us what nsa was up to. i still think he did a public service.

i still think we had a right to know and we're better off knowing what's going on. but i must admit the more edward snowden talks it seems to me, the less attractive he becomes. i think he just ought to -- he's done his thing. shut up and stop his round of self-praise about how wonderful i am, how important i am. we don't need to hear that from him. what do you think of snowden? 1-866-55-press. i gotta tell you more and more of my friends are saying i told you snowden was a bad guy. i told you snowden was a bad guy. you know, i'm not saying he's the next jesus christ. but i do think he did the right thing in letting us know what nsa is -- what our government is up to. whatever happens to him happens. >> he's not the perfect messenger. >> bill: he's not.

>> you have to respect what he did. >> bill: love your thoughts on snowden. whether you still respect him. 1-866-55-press. the bigger story i've been saying this for a long time is stop focusing on snowden and let's focus on the nsa. frank rich will be talking to us about that later in the program. has a great column on that very point. because now we're finding out the nsa was up to, thanks to snowden, was up to -- we know now was up to even more than we thought at the beginning. more and more stuff is coming out that they're not only doing this massive data collection on every single phone call you and i make, okay. that's one thing. that troubles me alone. not only collecting information on every e-mail that is sent, that's the so-called prism plan. every e-mail sent from here, united states, anywhere outside of the united states. and collecting all of that massive data.

huge storage facility out in utah so they can store the stuff themselves and not depend on the providers anymore. the internet carriers to give them that information. now, we find out though it is much beyond that. that was the first thing that snowden released. now we find out that the nsa is listening in on conversations listening in on conversations on every european country, all of the members of the eu with, by the way, the corporation of the -- with the cooperation of the british intelligence. so the two of us spying on every country in the eu. britain hasn't joined the eu. they have identified -- in the latest documents he released, there are 38 embassies and diplomatic missions in new york and washington that are identified as the spying targets for the nsa. listening in on everything that's happening in those

embassies. i read yesterday not only that, the latest conference of the group of 20 industrialized nations meeting in europe. we were spying on everybody going to that conference and they were even -- nsa set up phony internet cafes and where these guys could come in and do the work or talk in between meetings and stuff and we were taping all of their conversations. it goes on and on. and so needless to say some of our allies in europe are pretty upset about this. germany in particular. but president obama was asked about it yesterday. at his joint news conference with the president of tanzania. and president obama said hey you know, this is just the way it works. we need to know all this stuff. >> obama: every intelligence service, not just ours but every european intelligence service

every asian intelligence service, wherever there is an intelligence service they're going to be trying to understand the world better and what's going on in world capitals around the world. from sources that aren't available through "the new york times" or nbc news. >> bill: so all -- does he love that phrase. all we're trying to do by spying on our friends right, we're spying on switzerland and france and spain and portugal, you name it. and germany. we're spying on them all. all we're trying to do is understand the world a little better. >> yeah. >> bill: that's all. just trying to understand the world a little better. and hey says the president we spy on them. they spy on us. >> obama: i guarantee you that in european capitals, there are people who are interested in if not what i had for breakfast at least what my talking points might be should i end up meeting with their leaders.

that's how intelligence services operate. >> bill: wow. can you believe it? so first of all, stop and think for a second, okay. before you rush to defend this, stop and think for a second. what would we be saying if george bush said that same thing? yesterday in tanzania. what if dick cheney said the whole thing? we would be raising holy hell. we have an intelligence service today that's out of control. we know about it thanks to edward snowden. we have an nsa that is out of control. that is acting without any limits. that is acting with the full support of the president of the united states. and the full support of republicans and democrats in congress who say no limits, no holdbacks whatsoever on anything our intelligence agencies want to know. and boy, if we go there we might as well take -- i believe pick up a copy of the constitution and torch it.

put a match to it. tear it up. throw it away. shred it. it doesn't belong anymore. it doesn't have any power whatsoever. nsa has got to be reined in. 1-866-55-press. let's talk about it. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

cenk off air alright in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts!

narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." only on current tv! >> announcer: radio meets television the "bill press show" now on current tv. >> bill: all right. 25 after the hour. on nsa let's not forget also that we've got a director of the nsa, james clapper who lied,

committed perjury lied to the united states senate -- the united states senator ron wyden at the hearing ron wyden asked this question. does the -- by the way he gave this question to clapper a day ahead of time. saying i'm going to ask this question. just want you to know. get ready. ron wyden's question. does the nsa collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of americans? clapper's answer was no, sir. so what do you do when the head lies to congress? just let him walk? >> we're on twitter by the way at bp show where teamster says this is why they're called spies, bill. wake up. everyone spies on everyone. kpt says i want to know if us americans are being spied on. as far as other countries it's been going on for years. tim says snowden has shown us

our members of congress are lazy bums who have totally failed to monitor the nsa. >> bill: i agree with that. they knew about it. did nothing about it. all right. here is -- here's the smartest guy in south carolina. now that peter is gone. ike from charleston. how you doing ike? >> caller: oh, man, you're setting the bar up there. billy boy, i love you like a brother from another mother. next to the oldest profession, this has been going on in the back rooms of the other governments, they're just sitting there laughing at the united states saying like we didn't know we were being spied on. i want to warn you about one thing. just remember this guy has been reported has all of the covert agents on the list. he's got them all. he knows who they are. he has the list. that's what makes him dangerous. if he outs our covert agents and puts them in harm's way and any of them are harmed, the man should be tried and executed for

treason, period. >> bill: that's a big if, ike. i would not disagree with you on that although i'm not for the death penalty. he's said that he's carefully picked and chosen so far what he was willing to release and what he's not. he doesn't want to put anyone in harm's way. we'll see if he holds true to that test. i've got you. ike, happy 4th of july. robert in hartford, connecticut what do you say? >> i have buyer's remorse as far as obama and his administration. i voted for him. and i didn't like the fact that they passed the patriot act. bush and cheney. >> bill: yep. >> caller: because i knew it would lead to spying on american citizens under the guise of keeping us safe. it angers me with these obama supporters. >> bill: robert, gotta go. i hear you. i oppose the patriot act for the same reason. now we see exactly what has

happened. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the

minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

(vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories. (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. way inside. (christoff) we're patrolling the area looking for guns, drugs bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories. (vo) from the underworld to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

>> occupy! >> we will have class warfare. (vo) true stories, current perspective. documentaries. on current tv. >> announcer: like politics? then like the "bill press show" on facebook. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: here we go. 233 minutes after the hour. -- 33 minutes after the hour. we always look forward to tuesday morning because here he is. igor volsky is the managing editor of think progress. we told you before, you want to know where we get all of the stuff we talk about. we turn on think progress, print the stuff out and there it is. and once a week, igor comes in to reveal the source of all of our good information. good to see you.

>> good morning, bill. now you'll be able to go to think progress not just for the latest in politics and news but also sports. we launched our sports vertical with travis as our sports editor. so we're now covering the politics the policy, the economics of sports and what it reflects about american society. >> bill: what do you know about sports? >> me personally, i'm learning every day about sports, i feel like. but there are people who know, thankfully. >> bill: so you're not just reporting -- if think progress is into the sports, it is not just reporting on the scores of the day. >> no. >> bill: because we have enough people who do that. should espn be worried? >> of course. i'm here to tell them they better watch it. this is sports with policy angle. the idea, for instance, we've been covering of gay players now coming out in sports.

the tax subsidies that stadiums receive, that sports teams receive, violence in sports as we've seen recently. all of these issues and how they interact with our society, what they say about our culture. and how we can have more progressive sports organizations. >> that's great. >> bill: dave zirin sports editor for the "nation" magazine, good friend of the program. >> you mentioned espn. espn doesn't touch this. they don't come close to it. so the fact that there is so much of it that happens in sports. it is important somebody covers it. >> i remember when jason comes came out about a month ago now or two months ago espn, it wasn't on their front page for a long time. it wasn't on their nba page which i didn't know they had until i saw where the jason

collins thing was. the traditional sportsnet works media outlets are kind of having some trouble covering these issues that are just now kind of popping up as society is slowly progressing. we're going to be there to provide an outlet. >> bill: when you see an aaron hernandez, you gotta think about what kind of a culture is this, not that -- not to consider all nfl players murderers or thugs because of it but there's something about the culture that raises some questions let's put it that way. if you want to follow think progress on sports, another great reason to go to thinkprogress.org. other thing we want to thank you for making the important phone call you did yesterday. no sooner had edward snowden applied for asylum in russia than igor called and said -- you should have called me.

asked to talk to me first. i left that country. >> let me tell you. >> bill: snowden rescinded his request for asylum to russia. >> it is mind-boggling let me just say that he would ask for asylum in all places, putin's russia which has a horrible record of all host of issues, was just -- just made international headlines for the slew of anti-gay legislation they passed. i mean just really shockingly backwards legislation for a country like russia saying that literally, gay people cannot show any kind of affection toward their partners in public basically at all. you cannot be out in public with another man, with another woman because that's considered propaganda toward children and that's the same in the eyes as

pedophilia. it is shocking to me this is the country that he would want to seek asylum in. >> bill: don't you think it was -- it wasn't his first choice? >> it was not his first choice. he's down to the wire. he pulled out of the russia asylum. bad idea after my phone call. 's applied to --'s plied to 20 other countries. his numbers are shrinking and we'll see what the future holds. >> bill: i think the future holds the moscow airport. >> lovely this time of year. >> bill: exactly. let's talk about what happened. you've been reporting on stories this morning. john kasich in ohio. we've got the two states. texas and ohio. both with the most stringent anti-abortion measures that we've -- that have been passed in decades. >> well, that's right. we've been hearing a lot about what happened -- >> bill: it has happened in

ohio. >> it's happened in ohio, bill. really, i think there's about 14 states that have these kind of restrictions that say no abortion after 20 weeks which is before viability which brings in that tension with the roe v. wade and in ohio, you have a really big measure. this is kind of been the push this past year is that you've had democrats in texas specifically successfully blocking small abortion measures. so, for instance, the measure in texas, there was a separate bill for the 20-week ban for closing down the clinics and democrats successfully blocked that bill. so texans did is they put it all together. made it a big omnibus legislation, took it through special session special rules and are now trying to again ram it through. similar thing is happening here in ohio while all eyes are on

texas and ohio yesterday. kasich, governor kasich signed an abortion bill that was tucked into a larger budget. it was several anti-abortion provisions that would defund planned parenthood. that would fund these crisis pregnancy centers which mislead women about abortion, about their options that would require that women be told about fetal pain which is this thing conservatives talk about. there's no scientific basis to the idea that at 20 weeks a fetus can feel pain. that's not what the sign says. so you know, it's great to see all of this really strong grassroots support. this national attention toward what's happening in texas but bills like this are popping up all across the country. states passing these kinds of restrictions and you know, the

irony is the end of the day not only are you infringing on women's reproductive health but you're also increasing costs if we're to look at it through the spectrum. >> bill: i thought it was interesting in the photo that you have -- think progress, i'm not sure. cyprian, we can see this. people can go to think progress and check it out for themselves. kasich signing this anti-abortion legislation surrounded by one two three four five, six legislators all of whom are men. >> darrell issa would be proud of that moment. >> bill: all are white men. >> there is another picture of all of the white men kasich and a small child. so also a boy. right. that's the other of course factor is a lot of these bills are pushed by men designed by men. yesterday at the rally in texas

wendy davis and all of these organizers spoke at this large rally in texas to protest the sb5 -- the hb5 there, the bill. one of the speakers said you know what? if women were here regulating how men can use their penises they would be just as outraged. of course i think is true. the visual here is quite stunning. it is all men and kasich telling women what they can or cannot do with their bodies. >> bill: the underlying issue here, it seems to me, in this area, as well as many other areas where we have seen extreme right wing legislation passed at the state cap tap after state capital after state capital comes back to redistricting and the fact that while most democrats and democratic organizations and democratic

donors and politicians were focused on the white house and the house and the senate, republicans, particularly with the help of people like the koch brothers focused on governor's races and state legislative races. and as a result, we've got i think, i forget how many states it is right now. where republicans control all three. they got the governor. both houses of the legislature and so you have seen this extreme right-wing agenda across the board on many issues whether it is climate change or abortion or collective bargaining or whatever from state after state after state. that's where it's happening. >> you saw how they tried district out wendy davis' seat from texas, the voting rights act saved her there. that's gone for the most part. you make a good point. >> bill: to -- the final point of that is that's for ten years. when they draw the lines the lines are there for ten years.

>> yeah. >> bill: they're stuck with this crap. >> i think that there is a silver lining. there is this sense that all -- that these -- these red districts lead to very extreme policies. policies that are way out of sync with the nation as a whole. and so i kind of feel like they -- at the end of the day maybe cannibalizing themselves that the policies just won't fly they're changing the image of their party extreme party that a lot of people are going to start rejecting. >> bill: true. but at the same time, those people, people of their ilk if you will, are in those districts and it will be almost impossible to dislodge them until the districts are redrawn. we'll talk about it here on think progress. the whole agenda at thinkprogress.org. igor volsky in studio with us. join the conversation at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill

press show."

>> if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think that there is any chance we'll see this president even say the words "carbon tax"? >> with an open mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned "great leadership" so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter). >> watch the show. >> only on current tv. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

>> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. follow us at bpshow and tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: for a long time, it was just all right-wing think tank here in washington, d.c. center for american progress. communications arm, policy arm. think progress. igor volsky is the managing editor. joins us every -- early every tuesday morning which we doubly appreciate. peter, what's going on? >> we're on twitter at bpshow at

bpshow. find us there. join in the conversation. we're still getting comments on edward snowden. a friend in hr says snowden could be telling 50% truth and 50% lies to damage the public's trust in government. he needs his day in court to get all of the real truth out. on the -- ohio assault on women. done griff -- don griffith says the governor of ohio is a total blank for sticking bills against women's health rights in his state budget. you can join in the conversation at bpshow. >> bill: kasich is every bit as -- i want to be careful. choice of words here. every bit as extreme conservative as scott walker of wisconsin. >> oh, yeah. kasich -- he was a huge conservative. had a fox show. now he's a governor who -- yeah,

the only -- speaking of silver linings, the only silver lining is he supports medicaid expansion under the affordable care act. >> well, there's that. >> bill: yeah. >> can't hate him totally bill. >> bill: he's willing to take free money. >> yeah. >> bill: that is not dumb. good for him. think progress, you have talked about something that i can't believe is going on. this transit strike in the san francisco bay area. obviously that's my home. i know that area well. i can't imagine imagine the bay area without bart. what's going on? what are the underlying issues there? >> 400,000 riders a day use the system and now you have -- unionized transit workers. about 2400 united workers going on strike. arguing that they took a pay cut for about five years during the recession to try to save the

system some money. and now they need a pay increase. they need to -- you know, make sure they're making more money than the cost of living. what they're being offered now is a pay increase but a pay increase that doesn't keep track with the cost of living so they're asking for a little more and they're ready to go on strike. they're out on strike. for that kind of thing saying look we sacrificed and now we need -- we need a pay raise to continue supporting our families. to continue operating the system. and it's really remarkable. 20 30 years ago as you know, these strikes are far more common than they are today and with unionization rates plummeting, you saw wages fall and so i think it's always heartening to see workers take a stand and say no. we're not going to take one more

cut. >> bill: i know disruptive as it is in terms of traffic and the inconvenience of having to drive into the city and deal with all of that gridlock, i still stand -- i stand in support of my brothers and sisters and the transit unions out in the bay area. and it just seems to me there's one place where management ought to recognize the important work that these people are doing and pay them a living wage and realize there wouldn't be any system. there wouldn't be any transit without their good work. but boy i saw a picture in one of the papers this morning of the ferries. the ferries, for some reason, are still operating. >> really? >> bill: which is the absolute best way to commute if the live in the san francisco bay area either from the east bay or from marin county. the ferries were like --

>> some other countries where there are no safety restrictions, there were so many people on the ferry. oh man hold on. >> like the immigrants coming over years ago. packed like sardines. >> bill: yeah. indeed. and on immigration reform, now that the bill has passed the senate, any hope in the house? what are people telling you? >> absolutely. now the house is going to move in some direction. >> bill: what direction? >> who knows. they're doing the piecemeal bills. there's no indication they're going to take up the senate bill and boehner -- the hope is that they pass something out of the house that's a piecemeal measure of some sort and again that's tough to see also because you're not going to have democrats voting for border security or just for everify or just for agriculture. how is that going to work? the hope is they pass something

out. they go to conference. they find middle ground that is mostly the senate bill in conference and then boehner who hasn't really committed to not bringing the conference report to the forefront doesn't have the majority of republican support will, in fact, bring it to the floor. so there is a path but it is a narrow one. >> bill: a lot of it depends on what they hear this week. here we have to have immigration reform. maybe they'll come back and work on that issue. move toward a compromise. whatever your plans are for the 4th, igor, have a good one. we'll see you next week. >> thank you. >> bill: thanks for coming in. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely

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this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the

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>> announcer: take your e-mails on any topic at any time. this is the "bill press show." live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: all right. here it is. this is why the nsa is going to get away with everything and why the congress and the president are going to do nothing about it. it is people like lorrie parish who says to me, bill, come on. if you don't have anything to hide i see no problem. if you want to live here, you have to just put up with it. it is the price of freedom. oh no, it's not. the price of freedom is enjoying our freedom and not giving it away. not even to our government.

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: what do you say? good morning everybody. happy tuesday. it is tuesday july 2nd. great to see you today. thank you for joining us. on the "full court press." coming to you live on current tv. all the way across this great land of ours, starting out right here in our nation's capital and our studio on capitol hill. just down the street from the united states capitol building. we'll bring you up to date on the news of the day. what's happening as you start your day. so you know what's going on and you have a chance to sound off about it. talk about it. give us your comments at 1-866-55-press. that's our toll free number. give us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow.

among some of the stories we're going to be covering, president obama and the first family wind up their trip to africa today and tanzania, a full day of activities and then they hop on air force i for the long flight back to the united states with the time difference, they will still be arriving here this evening and i think about 10:30 tonight, arrive on the south lawn of the white house and sleep in their own beds tonight. meanwhile, chaos in africa where people are unhappy now with the president that they elected just one year ago. they're not going to let him it looks like, finish his term. they want him out. the egyptian military has given morsi 48 hours to satisfy the protestor's demands or they'll take off and stage a coup. we'll bring you up to date on that and a lot more on current tv. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays

at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso.

if you believe in state's rights but still support the drug war

you must be high. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> do you think there is any chance we'll ever hear the president even say the word "carbon tax"? >> with an opened mind... >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> ...and a distinctly satirical point of view. >> but you mentioned great leadership so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter) >> cutting throught the clutter of today's top stories. >> this is the savior of the republican party? i mean really? >> ... with a unique perspective. >> teddy rosevelt was a weak asmatic kid who never played sports until he was a grown up. >> (laughter) >> ... and lots of fancy buzz words. >> family values, speding, liberty, economic freedom, hard-working moms, crushing debt, cute little puppies. if wayne lapierre can make up stuff that sounds logical while making no sense... hey, so can i. once again friends, this is live tv and sometimes these things happen. >> watch the show. >> only on current tv.

>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: president obama says they spy on us so why don't we spy on them? good morning everybody. what do you say? it is tuesday july 2. this is the "full court press." we're coming to you live on your local progressive talk radio station. and on current tv this tuesday morning. to bring you up to date on the news of the day and give you a chance to sound off about it. we know you've got your strong opinions just like we have ours. we get to express our opinion and you get to express yours at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at

facebook.com/billpressshow. facebook.com/billpressshow. and you know, this is summer. so it's a good time to talk about global warming. any time is a good time to talk about global warming. we haven't been talking much about it lately but then the president gave a major speech last week which just sort of changed the agenda, quickened the debate over what to do about climate change. nobody's happier about that than karla davenport. this is her beat after all. sometimes she's saying what about this issue? >> it was like christmas and new year's all in one. >> bill: the president did this just for you. energy and environment correspondent for the "national journal." nice to see you. thanks for coming in. >> sure. good to be here. >> bill: it is exciting to see some stuff happening huh? >> the speech that the president gave last week is probably the most sweeping, historic environmental statement that any president has ever made in

history. certainly, on the issue of climate change. this president has talked about climate change before. this was nearly hour-long speech in which he just finally put his back into this. he didn't call on congress to act. he said this is how i'm going to act. >> bill: so coral is going to bring us up to date on what decision we can expect from the president. you join our team this morning and peter ogborn and dan henning and cyprian bowlding keeping us looking good on current tv. before we get into those issues, a big anniversary yesterday. i didn't realize until i saw it on nbc news last night with brian williams.

yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the zip code. been around for 50 years ago that they started the zip code. >> i was surprised it is so young. i figured it had been around for a long time. >> out how get your mail where it needed to go before that? >> bill: they were having a hard time so they came up with the system. it was very controversial at the time because people thought this is too much work. one more step we have to do. didn't want to do it. so they actually had a huge advertising campaign to convince people that this is the right thing do. you have to get on board including a little jingle like this. ♪ you know you gotta have the zip code ♪ ♪ zip code ♪ ♪ everything will be all right ♪

♪ fewer mistakes, no time ever lost ♪ ♪ they'll get it to you ♪ ♪ you know you have to have the zip code ♪ >> bill: it works, huh? and now everybody uses it. try to mail a letter today -- mailing a le is when you have an envelope and you take it to this place called the post office. >> quick poll. who here does the full, extended zip code the four extra digits. >> no. >> neither do i. okay. >> bill: who does? businesses maybe do if you have a business reply envelope. i don't even know what those -- no idea what those extra four -- >> a lot of times they're p.o. boxes. i have a p.o. box and part of my number is my p.o. box. it is an extension to get it further. >> bill: you wouldn't think of mailing a letter without a zip code. in fact, it wouldn't get there. climate change, start off with that issue today.

but first... >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. some nfl fans don't want their aaron hernandez jerseys anymore while others do. following the murder charges laid on the former new england patriots player, the team is allowing fans to exchange his number 81 jersey at the team store without a receipt for a full exchange this weekend for two days. that being said, some fans have opted to put their jerseys on ebay. abc reporting most jerseys are fetching between $200 and $300 each for the original purchase price under $100. >> guess who doesn't want to see an aaron hernandez patriots jersey? the patriots. they'll happily give you a new one with a different name. >> bill: people who still want to wear them, let's wear the murderer's jersey. >> jennifer lopez is back stateside after performing a private gig overseas over the

weekend. she's come back to a not so good reception because she performed for the president of turkmenistan the former soviet union's leader is labeled as a dictator by the united nations. in which they say he has a long ways to go on human rights. her publicist said j. lo, had she known he was a bad man, she would have declined the gig. no word on what she was paid for it. people are asking she donate that to charity. >> bill: how can you accept an appearance without any country without knowing something about the country? >> i feel like j. lo would have people to vet that. >> google and wikipedia, you would think. another stunning upset at the all england lawn and tennis club. the best player went down. serena williams losing to a player from germany in three sets. on the men's side, andy murray did survive his match. he and novack djokovic are the

only ones left. roger federer rafael nadal has been knocked out. >> bill: this wimbledon tournament is incredible. >> brand new crop coming up. >> it is almost enough to make me watch tennis. >> bill: here we go. this speech, you know, it's interesting because the first full year, a lot of people, coral, gave president obama grief he didn't do anything about climate change and he really didn't. >> that's not true. did he two major things that first term. the first is he used his executive authority to create new fuel efficiency standards for cars. he doubled the fuel efficiency standards for cars which is a major step forward for reducing emissions from oil, from automobiles and it is very important because it is notable

that he did that using his executive authority. he basically bailed out the auto industry and when they were kind of, you know, in the crunch, they came together and got a deal on agreeing to do the standards which they didn't really want to do. >> bill: hugely significant move. >> the second thing he did was he tried to get congress to pass a sweeping economywide cap and trade bill. that was the bill that he ran on. bill he gave lots of speeches about in the first campaign. it did pass the house. and it just fell apart in the senate. and i think that if that bill had passed, we would have seen, you know, a price on carbon that would have effected the entire u.s. economy. it would have cut emissions from power plants, from automobiles from manufacturers, it would have kind of spread the hurt. it also would have created revenue for investing in new clean energy research. that's what he wanted to do and

it fell apart in congress. i think in the second term, that was the famous cap and trade bill that a lot of folks -- democrats in the house ended up getting hurt for voting for. >> bill: right. >> so i think in the second term, the -- what we're seeing from the president is we're not going to get anything out of congress. first term put the ball in congress' court, they failed. second term, not running for re-election. president doesn't care if he gets hurt politically by taking action on this. so now he is scooping up all of the authority he has and kind of doing a round two on using this executive authority. >> bill: and his -- the launching of that really was the speech at georgetown about a week ago now right before he left for africa. or two weeks -- it was before the european trip. >> it was last tuesday. just before he left for africa the next day. >> bill: and in terms of -- one thing that this does, you've

written about this, this united states has been criticized for all other nations european nations particularly, taking the lead in global warming while we've been dragging our heels that's no longer the case. >> this has fundamentally changed the global dynamics in terms of how the world is trying to take on change. i've been going to the global change summits for years. the way the rest of the world looks at this is the u.s. is the largest economy the last remaining superpower and it is historically the world's biggest emitter of pollution. it is number one contributor to the problem and the u.s. has gone into negotiations and tried to force other countries china india, other polluters to sign on to some kind of binding commitment to cut their carbon emissions when the u.s. is again and again and again failing to do it at home. we've seen this dynamic where the u.s. goes in and says well, you guys sign on to something

and then our congress will pass something. the rest of the world doesn't buy that anymore. now, the dynamic is the u.s. can go to the table and say look we've done it. we've taken this executive action. we don't have to wait for congress. it's happening. that really changes the dynamic for the rest of the world. >> bill: that makes us a leader, if you will. not somebody who is just not doing their job. what are the specific actions then that the president can take and what difference will they make? >> so the specific action he's going to take is he's going to use authority under the clean air act under existing law to -- they had already moved forward under the clean air act to propose rules that would force new or future coal firepower plants to cut their emissions. those rules have been proposed. they haven't been finalized. once they come out, they could effectively freeze construction of new coal-firepowerred plants

which are the biggest contributor to global warming emissions. >> bill: we're still building coal? >> not anymore. the reason the u.s. was doing it is because the u.s. -- it is a cheap source of electricity. there was no regulation on the carbon emissions. if you can do that, why not keep building coal plants. this really changes that dynamic. and then what the president announced in a speech last week is that those rules will also apply and this is a really big deal, to existing coal firepower plants so the nation's fleet of existing coal fire plants will be subject to regulations cutting their pollution of carbon emissions. and over the long run we don't know what the rules will look like yet. the proposal, the draft will come out a year from now in june. june 2014. but it is very likely that those rules will lead to the shutdown of our fleet of existing coal

firepowerred plants. that's huge. that gets at the heart of the u.s. contribution to global warming. >> bill: shutting them down, not just putting filters on them or cleaning up the emissions. >> here's the problem with that. this is a big deal there. is no technology that exists to cut carbon emissions from a coal firepower plant. if you have a cowl firepower plant and you want it to significantly cutty carbon emissions, your option is probably to shut down. there's one technology called carbon capture and sequestration. it exists in government labs. it's so expensive that it's not available commercially. so we may -- you know, we may see a huge uptick in the research in that technology. but right now what it looks like is over the long run we'll probably see -- unless there's a big technology breakthrough, a

shutdown of coal firepower plants. >> bill: what source of power replaces the power lost from these coal power plants? >> so here is where the obama administration -- >> bill: nukes or what? >> here is where the obama administration just got a huge stroke of luck dropped in its lap. and that is this new abundance of u.s. natural gas. this is the fracking boom. and natural gas has half the carbon pollution of coal. and thanks to this big fracking boom that we've seen, power companies have already taken a market shift to invest in natural gas plants instead of coal plants because it is so abundant and so cheap. so what the expectation is that these regulations will say that existing coal firepower plants probably have to cut their emissions in half. if you're a power company you know, there's two ways you can do that. you can try to -- figure out some kind of technology, try to

invest in very, very expensive carbon capture technology that's not commercially available or you can just switch to natural gas which has half the carbon pollution of coal. right now is running at about the same price. sometimes cheaper. so i think we're going see a big shift, huge market shift in the u.s. from coal to natural gas. >> bill: so the whole energy field is changing. i think that speech that the president gave a couple of weeks ago at georgetown, coral caven port reporting on it. fracking is not something people are happy with. you might want to talk about that. give us a call at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv.

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. anything.

cenk off air alright in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know

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>> bill: climate change in terms of survival of the planet. want to hear from you on twitter at bpshow and on facebook.com/billpressshow. just a little time here with coral davenport the correspondent for the "national journal" at nationaljournal.com. so coral i gotta ask you what about the keystone peep line? a lot of people are saying if the president is going in this direction, how can he approve the keystone pipeline? this is going to make things --

make matters worse. what did he say about it? what can we expect? >> i saw on twitter people talking about his language on the keystone pipeline in that speech. it is wide open in that delay. the general interpretation of the way the president talked about the keystone pipeline in that speech -- >> bill: and he said -- >> he said that he would not approve the keystone pipeline if the environmental impact study showed that it was not in the national interest and if it substantially increased global warming emissions. >> bill: translate. >> so there's already been a draft environmental impact study of the keystone pipeline by the state department which found that it would not substantially increase emissions. so the read on that is what the president was doing, the political purpose of this

speech he absolutely does seem serious about moving ahead with these coal power plant standards. but by giving such a big speech and making his environmental pleasing his environmental base so much, he set up a classic obama move which is he giveth and he taketh away. the read on this right now is that this speech kind of makes his environmental base happy. sets up some very big and significant moves on global warming so that a couple of months down the road, he can go ahead and approve the pipeline which is what had been expected all along. >> bill: all right. we'll see what happens there. coral davenport thanks for coming in. to the fire. are you encouraged by what you

heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: how about it. 33 minutes after the hour now here on the "full court press" this tuesday morning. july 2. the good men and women of the cwa under president larry cohen. the union for the information age. you bet. you can find out more about their good work at their web site cwa -- union.org. july 2nd. yesterday was july 1. you know what happened on july 1. the loan rate -- the interest

rate, thank you hello interest rate for federal student loans doubled from 3.4% to 6.8%. congress could have fixed it but they didn't. ashley covers congress for now this news and she's here to tell us why congress didn't do so. hi, ashley. nice to see you again. >> hi, good morning. how are you? >> bill: this was a classic case of something that was so easy to do, so simple to do. one vote. keep it at 3.4% like they did last year. what happened? >> well, i think there is a lot of disagreements going around as per usual so the house had passed a bill that was going to to -- the subsidized stafford loans. they were going to tie them to the market rates. >> bill: what the house republicans wanted to do. >> based on the ten-year treasury note. they had passed this bill. and the president had actually had a similar plan. so there was a lot of questions why couldn't senate democrats pass the same bill if what the president was proposing was

somewhat similar. so the senate democrats came along. there was a bipartisan bill that was proposed that would tie it to bench marks with a cap. and then harry reid and some others said no no, no, we can't even do that. that doesn't protect our students. you know, what if the economy improves and the interest rates go higher than the cap or higher than 6.8% so a bad deal is better than no deal at all. >> bill: no deal is better than a bad deal. so you know, with all of these disagreements. it sort of fell through the cracks. kicking the can down the road even further. >> bill: or doing nothing. can they still fix it? >> yes. they can retroactively fix it when they come back from recess. so you know, students typically take out their loans ten days before their semester starts. so you know, there is opportunity for it to be fixed but then again, there's a lack

of urgency now. and we have this history of inaction so it's you know, whether it will actually happen or whether they'll come together. they had a full year. you have a full year to do something and you know this deadline is coming. and these are -- these are young people. this is the future of america. if we can't value education if we can't value them, then we have some serious core values in question and that's the problem. >> bill: of course, the house and senate are now on their 4th of july break so we haven't heard from many of them or most of them. with one exception bernie sanders never takes a break. >> bernie. >> bill: bernie never takes a break. he's the best and hardest working liberal. >> you would say that because you use to the work for him. >> bill: i was his intern. i say it because he's a socialist. he's a liberal. bernie was on cnbc yesterday just saying about how absurd

this whole process is. >> people graduating college on average, $27,000 in debt. huge impact on their lives unable to buy homes unable to buy cars. really struggling and now what we say to this entire generation is we're going to double your interest rates. i think that's totally absurd for the middle class of this country and for our entire economy. >> bill: it really is. it does speak to the fact that this congress can't get anything done. even on the easiest issues to figure out. but it also says something about the republican priorities. i mean, i've seen some reports that the reason the house republicans didn't want to compromise on this is because they figured well, students will vote for democrats anyhow so why should we help them? is there a political agenda here too? >> i'm not sure if there is necessarily a political agenda. it goes back to, you know,

assessing whether education is, you know we need to bring this back to -- to a part of the social good. this is a young person's access to opportunity. if we can't value that, then you know, we have bigger problems. college affordability is through the roof. how do we incentivize colleges to make it affordable for young people. and so you know, i'm not sure if there is necessarily a political agenda. i think there's just an overall impasse to what's important in this country. and young people are what's important. i mean we have millions -- seven million students will be affected by this. we have to buy a house later in life. we have to buy cars. we need to get married. we can't do that if we're still paying off our student loans. how can we recover if we'll be

paying down our debt? >> bill: it came down to me when president obama said -- i forget exactly the period. he pointed out he and the first lady just -- nine years ago? nine years ago, they finished paying off their college loans. their student loans. hello. >> i sat with senator chris murphy of connecticut who is still paying off his college loans. he said to me -- he said -- i thought this was you know, this really resonates. he said i'm a senator. and i'm in this classic crunch. that's what he called it. he said i am paying off my student loans with my wife while i'm also saving for my son's college. so he was saying most of my money is actually going to college. he's not able to save as much for retirement because he's paying off his law school loans his wife is paying off her law school loans and they're saving for their son.

so, you know, we have members -- elizabeth warren is still paying off her loans. we actually have members sitting in the senate who still have loans they're paying off. so you know, thankfully for them, they're a valuable voice. they both sit on the education committee and they're able to give that perspective and up until a year ago nobody on that committee was still paying off their loans. warren and murphy are unique in that way. >> bill: let's talk about two of the solutions. if elizabeth warren is and chris murphy is and the president and first lady were until nine years ago, i'm sure many, many, many of our viewers and listeners are stuck with the -- saddled with the same debt. what's the rate of default on student loans? must be pretty high. >> it is about 57% of current loan borrowers are expected to default. >> wow really! >> they have said that they feel

as they won't be able -- it is two out of five subsidized stafford loan borrowers will default. >> wow! >> that's a huge number. the best part about this is that the money that we're using from our student loans is expected to be used to pay down our national deficit. by something like $5 1 billion in ten years. some absurd number. so you know what? i look at that. are we paying debt with debt? that's what we're doing. >> bill: no. that's exactly what we're doing. this is indicative of a very large looming economic crisis. it is $1 trillion in student debt exceeding credit card debt for our nation. >> bill: you mentioned elizabeth warren. elizabeth warren, i think has the best plan of all. elizabeth warren says wait a

minute. what is this floating market rate crap? no matter who's for it, you don't know how high it's going to go. maybe you cap it at 8.5 but she says the banks can go out and borrow money from the fed at less than 1%. so why should we treat the big banks any better than we treat students or yshtd we treat students any worse than we treat the big banks. her bill which has gotten a lot of support in the academic community is let's put it at the same rate that the big banks pay for the money that they're borrowing overnight or whatever and investing and which would be probably -- well, less than 1% what's wrong with that? to me it's the best plan of all. >> to me, it's like how could we -- it still goes back to how are we not valuing students, keeping money in their pocketbook. >> bill: what's related to that is she should not be making

money off students. we should not be making -- even 4%. 5% 6%, no. let's give them the lowest possible rate so that at least the cost -- recovering the cost of handling all of the loans. but yeah, the fact that we're using the student as a money making operation. >> yeah, no. >> bill: pretty outrageous. it is sad only because you know, students inherently don't have a lot of their own money obviously and so we're making money off of people who are now threatened with not ever making money because the job market is so terrible. they're going to graduate with all of this debt and are going to live at home. >> bill: if congress can't fix it or couldn't fix this, they couldn't get this done by the deadline. there's no hope for this guy. throw them all out and start all over again. we'll see what happens when we come back. weigh in on this. this is really, really

important. huge issue. ashley codianni is here with us from not now in thus. it is nowthisnews.com. we'll be right back and take your calls at 1-866-55-press. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

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(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything. >> announcer: connect with the "bill press show" on twitter. tweet using the hashtag watching bp. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 13 minutes before the top of the hour. sorry about that scratch there. we're talking with ashley codianni from now this news

about the abysmal failure of the congress to do anything about student loans before they left for their 4th of july break. peter, what's the social media world -- >> twitter at bpshow. lots of comments. djz says the g.o.p. don't care about student debt because they don't value education. and they make profits off of student debt. that's one point of view. rodeo gal says unless we acknowledge the public sector in this country the total privatization for profit will continue and mr. john john says there is no issue that goes through congress that is not political these days. even on student loans they make it a political issue. >> bill: one other factor in this, ashley. i don't know what the answer is. we also can't just let the universities continue to just raise tuition up and up and up and up and up, right without -- i know they're private institutions and all of that. they get a lot of federal money

right? >> right. >> bill: where is all of that money going? i'm not sure -- the professors aren't making all of that money are they? why aren't the colleges subsidizing the student's education? >> one of the biggest problems is transparency. when we sat down with eric cantor, that was one of his big things, the federal government is going to be giving you any money, we need to know exactly where the money is being sent. college costs continue. so inflated. it is every year. they get away with it. i made this -- i said what if everyone just made a huge campaign on social media and said i'm not even going to go to college this year until they lower the cost. i mean that's crazy and it was just a joke. i would never go through with it by any means but we need to take some sort of collective action among our generation and we're getting screwed a little. >> bill: totally.

let's talk to tim calling from bristol, vermont. what do you say? good morning. >> caller: yeah, good morning. we basically bailed out big business and the banks and all of that. 0% interest. why can't we do the same for the colleges? >> bill: i get your point. it is an excellent question. we gave all of the money away. the auto industry and wall street. t.a.r.p., remember that? why don't we have a program like that for students? why not forgive all of the existing loans? >> yeah, it just goes to show what we value. >> bill: priorities. it is a matter of priorities. and in terms of -- also, it is a matter of priorities as to what they -- what's important enough for them, the congress to act on -- to give attention -- to spend any time on and what's not. they were able to pass the most

restrictive, in the house, the most restrictive legislation on abortions in decades. they spent three days debating that right? and passed it and the republican-led house. they didn't have five minutes to spend on student loans. jim is calling from albuquerque new mexico. hey, jim you're up. >> caller: good morning, everybody. my son has a ton of student loans and i just wanted to say it all ties in with the sequester. i'm a federal worker out here, local afg2263 life-long democrat, i've been working since the carter administration so that means i went through reagan, the bushes, clinton, i have never faced what i'm facing now and my furlough days start next monday. i'm so disappointed with barack obama even though i voted for him, it is hard for me to think about voting democrat again but i would never vote republican. >> bill: well, i hear you

jim. i hear your frustration. i don't think you can blame president obama for the sequester. he didn't want it. he talked against it. he pleaded with congress not to let it happen. but it did happen. but you can see that compound compounding, the difficulty. thanks, jim, for the call. compounding the difficulties on a family like his. he's losing part of his benefits and salary and at the same time, his son is trying to pay off his student loans. >> right. you know this isn't just -- this doesn't just affect students. >> bill: here's the thing ashley. the sad part is that one of the reasons republicans are -- able to stiff students is because not only do they think students may vote democratic but they don't think students are going to protest. they're not going to raise hell. they're not going to do anything. they're just a population that doesn't vote in the midterm elections and so therefore politically, they can totally be

ignored. is that going to change? do you think students are going to raise hell over this? >> i hope so. this is -- you know, i think this is the first time where students are really realizing how they're going to be affected by this. that's not to say, you know, we still have to acknowledge that the house republicans did actually come up with a bill and they did pass it. >> bill: it was a lousy bill. give me a break. 8.5%. that's not improvement. >> right. it is called the wavy nonsense. >> i like it. >> but you know, students, we do need to do something about this. >> bill: i know. this is your job now. you have to go out and organize organize -- i want a million student match on washington led by ashley codianni. >> i don't know if that's going to happen.

>> bill: there is your challenge. thanks for coming in today. >> thank you. >> bill: i'll be back and tell what you the president is up to today, on his way home pretty soon. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." for us." only on current tv!

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i am given to doing anyway. staying in tough with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them, right? vo: the war room tonight at 6 eastern current tv is the place for true stories. with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. real, gripping, current. documentaries...

on current tv. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." >> bill: all right. in the next hour, jennifer epstein from politico covers the white house for politico will be here in studio with us. we'll be talking with frank rich, the writer at-large for "new york" magazine on a great piece he has done. about nsa. president obama winding up his trip to africa today. he appeared this morning at a

wreath-laying ceremony with former president george w. bush. both in tanzania. first lady also appeared with former first lady laura bush. the president touring next -- toured a power plant and gave remarks at a power plant. by my calculation, he should already be either at the airport or on air force i starting that long flight home from africa. the president and the first family arrive on the south lawn of the white house tonight at 10:25 p.m. home sleeping in their own beds tonight. we'll come back. jennifer epstein and frank rich in the next hour of the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "bill press show."

[ ♪ theme ♪ ] >> bill: hey, good morning everybody. what do you say? good to see you today right here on current tv. and the "full court press." welcome to the program this tuesday morning. july 2. beautiful day here in our nation's capital. we're gearing up for the 4th. hope you are too. but in the meantime, there is a lot going on we need to talk about. you know how to do it if you want to join the conversation, invite your comments any time on the phone at 1-866-55-press. on twitter at bpshow and on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. it is final day of the trip to africa for the first family. president obama and the first family, a busy day of events in

tanzania after which they hop on air force i for the long flight back here to the united states, back in the white house tonight. meanwhile, leaving behind turmoil, chaos in egypt. the president spoke to president morsi of egypt yesterday. you know what's happening there. protestors are unhappy with morsi's performance so far. he was elected just one year ago. they've had enough of him. they want him out. yesterday, the military gave morsi 48 hours to respond to the demands of the protestors or the military would stage a military coup and yes student loan rates doubled here yesterday but congress -- republicans don't care about students. didn't do anything about it. all of that and more on current tv. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays

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>> announcer: broadcasting across the nation on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." president obama says hey they spy on us so why don't we spy on them. good morning everybody. what do you say? you are free to listen in on us any time, anywhere you want. we make it easy for you on your local progressive talk radio station. and on current tv, coming to you both on video and audio portion of the "full court press" this tuesday morning july 2. so good to see you today. thank you so much for joining us here on the "full court press" as we bring you up to date on all of the stories of the day. as many as we can squeeze into this last hour together. of course, give you a chance to comment on what it all means to

you at 1-866-55-press. our toll free number. on twitter, talk to us on twitter, give us your comments on twitter at bpshow and on facebook, we want you to become our friend on facebook. if you're not already. at facebook.com/billpressshow. our team, all assembled in place this morning. peter ogborn and dan henning. hello, guys. >> hey, hey, hey. >> good morning. >> bill: with alichia cruz on the phones and cyprian bowlding's got the video cam covered as well. and at the white house you know, i can't do it by myself down there. i need help from my friends covering the white house briefings, one of them. jennifer epstein joins us in studio this morning. covers the white house for politico. hi jennifer. nice to see you. >> thanks for having me on. >> bill: no briefings to worry about. >> no need to go over there except to say hi to some friends. >> bill: exactly.

the president does come back today. tomorrow, the day before the 4th and the first day back from africa, i doubt there will be any briefing tomorrow. >> yeah. then he goes to camp david for a couple of days after that. >> bill: right. and will he come back for the fireworks? i wonder. >> he may not go to camp david until after that. because they have that big party there on the south lawn. i don't think he can miss that. >> bill: right good. i want to get that microphone a little closer to jennifer there. everybody kiss the mic here. good to have you with us. i particularly want to talk about how the white house is responding to the latest news about nsa's spying activities. and we learned this morning that there may be even more coming. in the meantime, on the political front down in

kentucky remember, mitch mcconnell was first -- thought he might have to worry about a challenge from ashley judd. she decided not to run. but yesterday the secretary of state of kentucky, democrat allison grimes said she's talked to her supporters and she is in. here she is. >> i've met with my supporters. we have had a great conversation and determined and decided that we can next make the best move. the best difference in the commonwealth of kentucky. by running for the u.s. senate. [ applause ] >> bill: so mitch mcconnell with a serious contender down there. he is rated or listed i guess as the number one most venerable -- vulnerable not venerable -- vulnerable republican up this year and now democrats have a

strong candidate. that's going to make it an interesting race down there. we haven't seen -- what we haven't seen is a challenger to mcconnell from the right which he was worried about too. >> he was voting to the right to try to avoid that and seems to have worked thus far. still a year and a half out. >> bill: even rand paul has come around in support. former enemies now they're frenemies. >> exactly. >> bill: jennifer epstein here with us to talk nsa and we'll have frank rich along later in this hour. we'll get right to it, jennifer but first -- >> this is the "full court press." >> other headlines making news on this tuesday. it seems that george zimmerman will need help with possible identity theft. cnn is catching heat for its coverage of the zimmerman trial yesterday. during a portion where they were going over arrest documents in the courtroom, they put up a form that zimmerman had filled out which had his social

security network on it. the network did not black it out. it was there for all to see. >> bill: hello. even if it were not on national television, you would think they would still redact it. >> you know, a lot of stuff happens in the courtroom, you would think that cnn would be operating on some sort of a delay. if it they needed to dump information, they could dump it. >> bill: lifelock. >> former "sesame street" employee who voiced elmo for nearly 30 years but was forced to resign amid misconduct allegations got a big victory yesterday. nbc reports three out of the four lawsuits pending against puppeteer kevin clash were tossed out because they were past the statute of limitations. one suit filed by a 25-year-old man still remains. no word on where that may go. clash's attorney were released an enthusiastic statement this was great news for him on top of the three emmy awards he won

just a couple of weeks ago. >> bill: you know, if a lawsuit is tossed out because of the statute of limitations is passed it doesn't necessarily mean you're not guilty. >> the damage is done. he lost his gig. aren't a whole lot of wins left. >> people are a little sad about elmo. >> i know. i was so bummed. i'm still sort of upset about elmo going away. >> the los angeles lakers really want dwight howard to say with them. he is a free agent. the team enlisted its number one fan to try to keep him in the city of angels. espn reports that jack nicholson called dwight howard personally yesterday to talk to him about staying in the lakers. no word on the details of their chat. they're hoping it went well. >> bill: what did jack offer him? come on up for lunch. >> lunch or movie role or something. >> bill: that's right. a speaking role in his next movie. >> i don't think dwight howard is going to stay in l.a. by the

way. i think he will go to dallas. i think he will ruin that team, too. >> for the free chicken fingers. >> we had the story yesterday about the chicken finger restaurant trying to get him out there. >> bill: 13 minutes after the hour now. so jennifer, one of the big stories remains still a lot of focus on edward snowden and is he ever going to get out of the moscow airport and will any country at all offer him asylum but the bigger story i keep coming back to is really what nsa has been doing and the extent of what they're doing. we've learned in the last few days that the information collecting or spying or whatever you want to call it, intelligence gathering is a lot broader than we even learned from the first edward snowden release. connect? >> there was this other release over the weekend from "the washington post" about more details of the prism program which is the internet spying of

non-u.s. persons believed to be by 51% of the time, you know, odds not on u.s. soil. and what these new revolutions show is there are 117,000, at least, direct targets that are being continually monitored that the nsa has the capability of listening live to your phone call your e-mail, your text messages immediately. >> bill: this is more than just keeping a record of a phone call was made from this number to that number. this is actually monitoring and listening in on conversations? >> right. that's what we believe it to be based on these new -- that come from the snowden leaks. >> bill: the targets include foreign governments embassies diplomatic missions, all across europe here in the united states. >> right. that was the revelation that came from "the guardian" over the weekend that all of the

european allies of the u.s. are being monitored and that's already gotten angela merkel and some of the european leaders upset, especially in germany where they're so sensitive to privacy issues. it is kind of appalling that they're -- they say their supposed ally of the united states is listening in on their every conversation. >> bill: now president obama was asked about this yesterday in tanzania. when the president leaves u.s. soil, he doesn't necessarily leave problems behind. every european intelligence service, every agent. they'll be trying to understand

the world better and what's going on around the world. from sources that aren't available through "the new york times" or nbc news. >> bill: i think that's one of the more interesting euphemisms of all time that what spying is all about is trying to understand the world better. >> he also said in this line of comments, if he wants to know what merkel is thinking, he will call her. if he wants to know what president is thinking in france, he'll call him. so he was trivialize -- saying it is not a big deal. this is kind of what you have to do. this is what the intelligence community exists to do. so of course, we're going to do it. they're doing it, too. maybe they don't care about what i'm having for breakfast in european capitals but they care about my talking points. >> bill: do you think that line of defense flies?

>> well, you know, it is the kind of thing where it may be okay for americans but it doesn't sound like it is all right with the european allies. even if they are doing the same thing at least publicly, there is a lot of -- a lot of anger coming from leaders and coming from ordinary people. if you look at the german press this week, you know, you'll see it. you'll see it on "the guardian" home page and you'll see it in all of the places that this is really something that is stirring up some concerns on the other side of the atlantic. >> bill: now we learned just this morning appearing on fox news glen greenwald investigative reporter who originally broke the edward snowden story he says still more to come? >> he says there's more to come.

there's a lot more to understand about how the programs work domestically and abroad. we'll be waiting for the next bombshell since june of the drip drip, drip of a little more new information from time to time. >> bill: with snowden, it is not just the other shoe dropping, it's a series of shoes dropping. we don't know where this whole thing heads. so how does the -- we heard the president's -- part of his attempt and you and i have heard jay carney attempting to deal with this at the white house. is this a problem for the obama administration? or -- i must say right now i don't see it because the congress seems to think everything is -- >> most members of congress, even in the polling you know 50% of americans don't have a

problem with spying on foreigners not in the u.s. it would be interesting to see of the new revelations. american citizens. i think you might get a little more of an outcry. at this point in time, it seems like americans kind of assume there is a certain amount of privacy they don't have and this meta data analysis that verizon will be tracking your calls because they send. >> bill that detail all of the calls that you made. so next step, obviously, would be for the government to just kind of be looking in on it. and so just -- that doesn't seem like it is enough. but it is possible there's some other revelation, something domestically that will turn the tide. >> bill: for the time being, it looks like -- other than getting questions from us at the briefings, right, not a big deal. >> this is something where you saw former president bush yesterday defending this. you've seen dick cheney defending this. it is not something where the

president has to worry about most republicans being upset with him either. he has -- there's obviously the rand paul contingent and the wyden contingent on the left but there's a very vast middle on this issue that is not going to make it an issue. >> bill: most democrats in the house and in the senate have said they've got no problem with it. jennifer epstein covers the white house for politico. we're talking about the nsa. it troubles me, the extent of their spying on us and now even on foreign nations. and also troubles me that the director of intelligence, james proper he committed perjury. he lied to members of the u.s. senate. particularly senator ron wyden. we'll talk about that when we come back here on the "full court press." >> announcer: this is the "full court press." the "bill press show." live on your radio and on current tv.

thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

cenk off air alright in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the

democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." only on current tv!

>> announcer: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 25 minutes after the hour. in the next segment frank rich from "new york" magazine joins us. he has written a piece about the fact that so many in the media are focusing on edward snowden and what he's going to eat at the moscow airport and where he might end up and ignoring the bigger story which is what the nsa is really up to. that's what we're talking about with jennifer epstein here in studio with us. covers the white house for politico. peter? >> we're at bpshow on twitter at

bpshow. where wise guy eddie says snowden has replicated two movies in a short period of time. first it was catch me if you can and now it's the terminal. the tom hanks movie about the guy who lived inside the airport. both tom hanks movies by the way miller says do you ever get the feeling bill press wouldn't be happy until all of our secrets are revealed and other nations are dee feeting the united states. upset with the fact that you think that snowden did -- >> bill: just the opposite. i would like to keep my secrets. i don't want the government prying into my secrets. that's part of the problem. i also want -- don't want the government lying to me, jennifer and so james clapper, the head of the nsa goes in front of the senate intelligence committee. ron wyden, senator from oregon, told him the day before, i'm going to ask you very sensitive question but i'm going to give

you the question 24 hours ahead of time so you can plan your answer. he says does the government in any way i'm paraphrasing, spy on millions or hundreds of millions of americans and clapper said no, sir. he was lying. he knew he was lying. >> he said that he felt like it was neither a yes or no answer and that it was too complicated and that it was closer to no than it was to yes or something like that. and then -- >> bill: is the least truthful way i could have answered. anybody else goes in front of congress. >> most truthful way. maybe. >> bill: anybody else goes in front of congress and tells a flat-out lie -- >> they get in trouble for it. >> bill: they get in trouble. this just part of the way we treat the nsa? >> he sent an apology letter a couple of weeks ago and doesn't seem like there is a whole lot

of outrage from members of the senate intelligence committee who were told at their hearing you know they don't seem to be up in arms about it. you know. they feel like it's something that he had to do to get along. but you see a lot of people. this has come up as an issue in the last couple of days, being concerned about the idea that the government is flat out lying in public. >> bill: i think it compounds the issue. i think if you ask a question, what are the chances that congress is going to do anything about this and rein in the nsa or restrict the patriot act the answer is zero. jennifer when we get back to regular briefings i'll see you back down at the white house. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." to the fire. are you encouraged by what you

heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

>> announcer: on your radio and on current tv, this is the "bill press show." >> bill: it is 33 minutes after the hour. what do you say on this tuesday july 2nd. so good to see you today. thank you for joining us here. a little short week here leading into the july 4 holiday. good to have you with us and there is lots going on and lots to talk about. have you heard, edward snowden applied for asylum in russia. have you heard he changed his mind. now he doesn't want asylum. he wants asylum in one of 19 other countries but the point is when are we going to stop talking about edward snowden and start talking about nsa. frank rich is all over the story. our good friend, writer at large for "new york" magazine. hello, frank, good morning.

>> good morning. how are you bill? >> bill: i'm good. before we get into edward snowden and nsa, all right tell us is anthony weiner really going to be the next mayor of new york? >> no one really knows of course, but i think he has a shot at it. >> bill: it's amazing isn't it? >> it is and it isn't because we're talking about democrats here because no one thinks a republican will win. we're talking about the democrats. you have a front-runner and in the case of christine quinn that sort of -- slightly fake front-runner in that she has the money and the endorsements and she was sort of -- at least for awhile handpicked by somewhat popular incumbent mike bloomberg. but doesn't really arouse that kind of enthusiasm. the old hubert humphrey

scenario. many other examples. al gore. romney. >> bill: sure. >> so that's left an opening. and there's a pretty busy field and there are all sorts of politics at play, ethnic, racial politics. but weiner has one thing going for him. i might add it is also something that snowden leaving aside the nsa for a second, has going for him for a public personality, he thumbs his nose at the establishment. and i think people like that, particularly in this era but the truth is he's a lackluster candidate in many ways. not talking about his twitter -- he has almost no record as a legislator in congress except for the times report, a bill to help the campaign contributor. but it is very interesting.

his wife is close to hillary clinton. there are many aspects to this. >> bill: also, to me, he's got that brass personality which look, i'm not a new yorker, right. i don't live there. it seems to me fits the city in an edward koch kind of way. am i wrong? >> no. you're exactly right. that's a very accurate observation. the city -- and i don't really -- i feel -- we like a brash personality. until we get sick of them, you know. until we got sit of ed koch, i think weiner has a much shorter shelf life but you know, it is in the tradition of -- considered the gold standard of new york mayors back in the 1930s. he stood up to power. he was called -- he had a big mouth. there's something about it that appeals to people and the others

are -- in this group are quite bland. >> bill: now let's get to meat of the day here. when privacy jumped, the shark is the headline on your latest great piece in "new york" magazine, related to edward snowden, nsa and to the fact that we've already maybe given up our privacy or in fact, have. starting with snowden it is -- haven't you been frustrated as i have been that most of the focus in the media has been where's snowden today? what's he had for breakfast today? that's not really the real story here. >> the truth is he's just a vehicle for the revelation of wholesale nsa surveillance on american citizens. and yet this says something less about him than it does about our culture, i think. he's become the -- his ability to date to bamboozle the government in their attempts to

apprehend him and bamboozle the press have completely upstaged what he's fleeing the government and what he actually did. so you know, it's become about the messenger not the message. >> bill: the message is that -- and every day it seems there are new revelations about the extent of the -- what do you want to call it? eavesdropping, intelligence gathering or spying on the part of our government, particularly through the nsa. it is massive frank. >> it is massive but one of the points i make in the piece is i think leaving snowden out of it for a second, i don't think people were up in arms. >> bill: you're right. >> you and i may be. rand paul is. a couple of democratic senators, ron wide and mark udall are but essentially, the mass of the public, i think and particularly younger people, just -- if you go online, you know every time

you do a google search or go into facebook or do a tweet people know what you're doing. they tell you -- the ads next to your gmail tell you they know what you're doing. a lot of people have grown up with this to such extent they shrug their shoulders which is too bad but i think is allowing the status quo to continue because it is one thing -- you don't have any leaders in either party calling for an end to this. it is supported by mitch mcconnell and john boehner but it is also supported by nancy pelosi and chuck schumer and harry reid. nobody is -- >> bill: and dianne feinstein. diane feinstein. so essentially, it is a big story that has kind of landed with a thud on much of the american people. >> bill: do you think that if it were not that particularly meant again young people have already surrendered every bit of

privacy they had willingly and eagerly, right, on facebook and all of the other sites that there might be a little more concern about it? >> you would think but it seems as if -- it is like a stock market already accounting for something -- a company is going to announce. there was an incredible national judicial poll, by coincidence was conducted a few days before the snowden revelation. 85% of americans said that they knew not just corporations and strangers but that the government was looking at their e-mail among other things and tracking them. that kind of sense already. snowden was pushing open an open door and people have not been angry about it. sadly, in my view. they've been like well, that's the way it is. it's not just about fighting terrorism. the president has taken a line

as have others, it is a ticking time bomb scenario. we've got to do this because otherwise, you know, there will be another bombing. i think people also like the fact that they can go on amazon and have other recommendations for products that match the one they're already buying. i think the convenience of it, you know, if you don't want to be tracked no one is forcing you to use a gps. no one is forcing you to use a cell phone that tracks you and so forth. >> bill: i've been raising hell about this. again, like -- as you said earlier, i feel a little lonely like i'm in the company of rand paul and michael moore and maybe glenn beck. sometimes wonder what i'm doing there. the response i get from people is either like -- well, if you have nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about or you know in this post-9-11 age we have to realize you know, we just don't have as much privacy as we used to have.

well, that's true to a certain extent but it shouldn't be true to throw it all out the window. >> no. it is out of control. but i do think that the public just -- they're used to it. >> bill: absolutely. i just want to play for you -- i'm sure you've heard this, for our viewers and listeners president obama was asked about this yesterday in tanzania particularly to the latest revelation that we're not only collecting this data on american citizens. we're listening in on conversations in embassies and in state -- in national capitals throughout europe and embassies and diplomatic missions here and some of our allies are getting very upset. and the president yesterday put -- tried to put it in perspective. here he is. >> obama: every intelligence service, not just ours but every european intelligence service every asian intelligence service, wherever there is an intelligence service here's one

thing they're going to be doing. they're going to be trying to understand the world better and what's going on in world capitals around the world. from sources that aren't available through "the new york times" or nbc news. >> bill: how do you like that? just trying to understand the world better. >> it is hilarious. like the model u.n. the way he framed it is hilarious. what he says of course is true. but that's great. it is like social studies class. geography. >> bill: it is one of the best euphemisms i've ever heard. >> what everyone thinks of barack obama, this is a smart and often witty guy, you cannot think he isn't chuckling somewhere. you cannot say something like this. >> bill: some private meeting somebody came up with that. he said oh let's go for it.

the truth is -- he'll get away with it. >> bill: that's going to be emblazened over the door of the new nsa headquarters that they're building in utah. we're just trying to understand the world better. >> better through intelligence. [ laughter ] >> bill: oh, my god. frank so, good to visit with you again. happy 4th of july. >> great to talk to you as always bill. >> bill: frank rich, the greatest. best columnist around. writer at-large for "new york" magazine. >> go mobile with bill press. download podcasts at billpressshow.com and listen any time anywhere. this is the "bill press show." so i want to talk about donald rumsfeld. >> (laughter).

>> watch the show. >> only on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

alright, in 15 minutes we're going to do the young turks.

i think the number one thing that viewers like about the young turks is that we're honest. they know that i'm not bs'ing them with some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know that i'm going to be the first one to call them out. they can question whether i'm right, but i think that the audience gets that this guy, to the best of his ability, is trying to look out for us. this show is about being up to date, staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding.

>> announcer: get social with bill press. like us at facebook.com/billpressshow. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: 12 minutes before the top of the hour here on a tuesday. tuesday, july 2. hope the day's off to a good start. and you certainly are -- just got off to a good start by joining us here on the "full court press". and on current tv. we've been talking about -- talking with frank rich and jennifer epstein before that. about we're learning more and more the extent of the nsa spying program which seems to be totally unlimited meaning they're listening in and

monitoring every phone call, every e-mail, anywhere in the world. anybody. any time. anyplace, friend or foe. what they're doing with all of the data, god knows. but it looks like it's not going to change because as frank pointed out the president supports him. democrats support him. republicans support him. the american people support what they're doing. and the head of the nsa goes in front of congress and lies through his teeth publicly, admits that he lied and nothing happens to him. so do we live in a police state or what? darryl out in denver, colorado, what do you say? good morning. >> caller: bill, i appreciate your show. i called -- was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago when you brought this up. they've been doing this forever. the only difference is the power and the scope with computers and servers, they're able to capture so much more. i remember a friend of mine who worked at nsa was laughable by the amount of data they captured. i think they've been doing this

for awhile. there's minimal -- i can't believe this is coming out of my mouth but minimal impact on us as citizens. we have enough stuff front loaded as far as dismok to protect ourselves. the one thing i would be interested in is what is the economic or monetary value of all of this data and then it would fall in the wrong hands. we're a capitalist society. goes to the highest bidder. you don't have to do any kind of market research. you've got, you know, billions of phone calls. >> bill: darryl, i think we're there. i think it's already -- you know, nsa was getting a lot of this stuff from the phone providers, verizon and all the rest and from google and facebook and they were starting to bitch about the fact that nsa was asking for information. those private companies they've got it. they're making money. you know they're selling information on you and everything you might order to any other provider that wants

it. >> that's huge. i would be more concerned about that than having, you know, guys in black suits banging on my door. i would be concerned that like, you know, i've become a data mark. >> bill: good point. but i'm concerned about both. my plea to you is don't give up on the privacy from our government at the same time. peter, i know you had a couple of comments here before we go. >> you can find us on twitter at bpshow at bpshow. chime in there. lots of people were excited about frank rich's conversation. pat said the new u.s. motto better living through intelligence. should be plastered on all of the stuff. >> bill: dupont company. i have to say that as a native of delaware. >> there you go. >> bill: better living through chemistry. i'm sorry.

okay. we appreciate that. to alfonzo in chicago. hey, what do you say? >> the main reason the rest of the world is so upset about this because we already have the biggest military, the biggest economic power all over the world and it looks like we're trying to become a dictator of the world and doing the same kind of thing like hitler was trying to do when he was in power and most of the americans don't realize this is the main problem this nsa program and it is just making us be the enemy of the world. see how evil our country actually is and has been all of the years since the end of world war ii. >> bill: i would not compare us to hitler and i would not say we're an evil country no. but you do make -- little glimmer of a point i think which is we have presented ourselves to the world largely

correctly and truthfully as the protectors of individual freedoms and those who stand for basic human rights. and now it finds out that we've been violating one of those rights with -- without regret and without restraint. and all of our leaders are saying it's okay. because now we live in a different world. we don't have any right of privacy anymore. we have a right to know every damn phone call you're making and where it's gone and who it's too. no, the government doesn't. i think this is a real test of whether or not we value our freedoms enough to fight for them. and with that, i'll be back with a parting shot and wrap it up for this tuesday july 2. >> announcer: this is the "bill press show." (vo) current tv is the place for compelling true stories.

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>> announcer: the parting shot with bill press. this is the "bill press show." >> bill: okay. on this tuesday, july 2nd, my parting shot for today on what we spent a lot of time talking about this morning you know the old saying about you can't see the forest through the trees that's exactly what's going on, i believe with nsa. most people in the media are still fixated on the fate of edward snowden. will he be stuck in the moscow airport forever? will he defect to russia? get asylum in ecuador or iceland or will the c.i.a. whisk him back to the united states? who cares. the focus should not be on snowden but on nsa. we know they're amassing more data than we first thought.

they're not only collecting information on every single phone call we make in the united states, nsa is monitoring phone calls and e-mails of every eu country including our allies. it is listening in on 38 embassies and missions in u.s. and washington. according to one document released by snowden they eavesdropped on the group of 20 industrialized nations meeting in london. should the nsa be doing this? should there be any restraints or limits on their ability to collect information? that is the real question. that's my parting shot for today, folks. eliot spitzer joins us tomorrow. we say thank you and good-bye to vicky, one of our good producers at current tv.

[ ♪ theme music ♪ ] >> stephanie: hello, current tv land, our number one why looky here. tommy in columbus has sent me a headline why jacki is confirm confirming orgasm. i'm clearly going to the wrong exercise class. women have orgasm while they exercise. >> i know about the